June 15 typically marks the day many seasonally closed roads on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest open to the public. This year due to wet conditions and flood damage, many of these roads will remained closed.
The only roads opening June 15 are Dadd Gulch/Salt Cabin (#259) and Old Flowers (#152) west of Jack’s Gulch Campground. Lower Deadman (CR86) was still wet last weekend, but will be reassessed this weekend. Work is also expected to take place this weekend on Johnny Park (#118), and conditions will then be reassessed. Other roads already open in the Forest include the Laramie River Road (CR103), Pennock Pass and Pingree Park. Information on the status of roads is available on the Canyon Lakes Roads Status website at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/roads.
It is important for the public to respect these closures. When roads and trails are this wet, it is easy to cause resource damage that can take a great deal of time and resources to correct. Visitors also run a risk of getting stuck in these muddy condtions, which we’ve already seen this season.
Work is already occurring on some flood damaged roads and trails. Stay up to date by checking our flood recovery website at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/floodrecovery. Updates are also available on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District’s Twitter account @usfsclrd.
It is also important to make safety your top priority when heading into the forest. Remember your safety is your responsibility. Live and dead trees can fall without warning, especially with the abundance of saturated soil throughout the forest. Be sure to know weather conditions before heading out.